Salary review

6. Without wanting to sound rude - I think the £75 a month freeby spending money you've allocated may be a tad unrealistic - especially when it comes to sale time! it's easy peasy to blow 75 quid or more on a single pair of shoes! - but, in perspective, if you control your spending (and your other half too) then it's wise to include this in your budget - i'm just saying, impulse buying can knock out your spending VERY easily.

These are just the things I see from your posting and things I can think up off the top of my head right now, there's probably some I've not thought of. Looking at your budget figures, most/all of what I said can be poached from your savings/fun money in order to pay for them all if/when they occur.

Basically, our budget and savings is not set in stone. We should have £400 or so to play with as far as savings go, so sometimes we can save more, sometimes less (depending on the bills). Also I have not factored in Child Benefit (£110 pm) so that helps too. I know that there will always be extra costs, but I think 400-500 per month is enough "extra" in the budget to cover that.

I am aware that money can be blown quite easily! We are very used to living on a budget though. I don't think I've ever spent £75 on a pair of shoes. I would have liked to many times, but I end up buying at places like TK Maxx, markets, ebay and charity shops. I have lots of money saving tricks up my sleeve. Basically we can end up with a pretty decent quality of life without spending too much money. Being a SAHM, I have the time that is necessary to plan and prepare, and I make more money available to the family that way.

Anyway, I just wanted to show that it can be done; lots of people do it. I don't think it can be done in a high COL area though. At least, I wouldn't want to try.

Regarding the whole women going back to work thing; I think it's great. I was a graphic designer before a SAHM. I might go back to work one day. I think maybe the person who originally made the point was (not in the most gracious way) trying to say that when women entered the workforce, the standard of living declined. Unfortunately, that's probably true, but that doesn't mean it is a bad thing for women to work outside the home! (The implication from the former post was "go back to the kitchen!")

The standard of living is lower in that it takes more wagepower to attain the same basic standard of living that was available to people years ago on a lower wage.

Anyway that's my .02.

Take care,

Penny

That is a good point, though if you're on a tight budget, impulse buying is not something you allow yourself to do anyway.... But I will say that I allow for £20-£30 per week for myself. That covers my lunches while at work (though if I were being practical and thrifty I could get an extra loaf of bread and some peanut butter included in the weekly shop and free up some of my spending money!), a magazine or two, the occaisional pop into the pub after work and any bits and bobs that come up like running to the shop for a paper and milk in the morning! I take it out (along with petrol money) at the beginning of the week to keep myself from running over budget.

That's pretty much what the £75 per month is for. DH takes his lunch to work. I usually get clothes with birthday and Christmas cash (given by family), and my kids get most of their clothes bought by their grandparents, plus hand me downs.

A new lip gloss gives me the same happy/ impulse buy rush as a new pair of shoes.

Although the poster said it very badly, in some ways he's right.  Because both members of a household are part of the workforce, it has reduced the salary of each person.  This is simple demographics (I'm reading a book on it right now). More people working=less resources to go around.  It's a crappy reality.

It would be an ideal world if one member of the household could make enough to allow the choice for the other to stay at home and raise a family - either parent.   

But married men get paid more than single men for doing the same job.

But married men get paid more than single men for doing the same job.

Really? I didn't know that. I thought it was just that married men are generally older and have more experience and thus at a later stage in their career.

Thank you for such extensive discussion... even you drift off the subject sometimes.

Pamaris  pointed the child benefit (110 PM) can some one describe it a little bit more?

Is it per a child?

Thank you.

Who is eligible
You may be eligible for Child Benefit if you're bringing up a child or young person who is:

-under 16
-16 - up to the 31 August following their 16th birthday, or up to 31 August if their 16th birthday falls on that date
-16, 17 or 18 and in full- time further education, or has started a programme of approved training
-16 or 17, has left full-time education or approved training, and registered with Connexions or the Careers Service (in Northern Ireland, the Department for Employment and Learning, or an Education and Library Board) for work, education or training
-19, and in full-time further education, or approved training which started before their 19th birthday.
You do not need to be the parent of the child or young person to qualify, but you must be responsible for them. The child or young person does not need to live with you, but if they live with someone else you can only get Child Benefit if:

-you pay money to bring up the child
-the amount you pay is the same as, or more than the weekly rate of Child Benefit you get for them the person the child lives with is not getting Child Benefit for them.

Who is not eligible
You may not be eligible for Child Benefit if any of the following apply.

A child or young person you are bringing up:

-starts to be looked after by a local authority (in Northern Ireland, a Health and Social Services Board, or Trust) and as a result stops living with you on a regular basis is detained in secure or non-secure accommodation
-marries or lives with a partner
-receives certain other benefits (Tax Credit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Incapacity Benefit) in their own right
or if,

-you start to get a fostering allowance or money from a local authority (In Northern Ireland, a Health and Social Services Board or Trust) towards the cost of a child’s accommodation and maintenance, for a child that the local authority are looking after and have placed with you
-your entry to the UK is subject to immigration control and you do not satisfy the special conditions that allow Child Benefit to be paid;
you don't have the right to reside in the UK.

For the tax year 2006-2007 you receive:

£17.45 a week for the eldest child.
£17.55 a week for the eldest child (Lone Parent Rate).
£11.70 a week for each additional child.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/cb-key.htm#b

as the the insurance thing- i agree house/renters insurance is necessary.  however, whether or not you NEED disability insurance is up to you.  personally, i'd rather have savings for this purpose.  the english tend to go a bit INSURANCE mad.

will he get child benefit if he's comign on a work visa? My spousal visa says I have no recourse to public funds and I would that includes a child benefit (unless they were born here and were british)

As for the comment on womens lib and all that. I have to agree. I wish I could stay home and raise kids and that is all that's expected of me. I am intelligent - I have a masters now, but frankly, I'd rather not have to work. My husband has another idea - he thinks women should work, even with kids. We have agreed I'll stay home when they're young, but I will go back when they're in school. I still don't like that idea mostly b/c I think as a mom, I'd like to be there for them and help out at school and things. He makes a great salary, but he thinks more is always better. I disagree - so one of those interesting things that will make the future a little uncertain. In the end, I wish I was allowed to just stay home and have kids. I guess I'm overly old fashioned.

A lot of mum's who take maternity leave go back to work part time after the leave is finished, perhaps this is an option for you, pittpanther36?  I think it depends on the profession and employer.  DW works for the NHS as a physio which is a very female dominated industry and it is virtually taken for granted that child and mother comes before the job, ie part time work is almost guaranteed.  Perhaps 2 days a week after maternity leave would allow you to still be working but a majority of time being at home with kids?

Ideally, I'd have at least a day off a week myself at least before school starts but being in IT consulting it is quite a difficult thing to wrangle.

Also I have not factored in Child Benefit (£110 pm) so that helps too. I know that there will always be extra costs, but I think 400-500 per month is enough "extra" in the budget to cover that.

Just out of curiosity, what and how did you get this Child Benefit? I thought under Work Permit or even HSMP scheme, Home Office specifically said NO RECOURCE TO PUBLIC FUND.

But if one of the parents is a UK national, it's all a bit different.

Vicky

Just out of curiosity, what and how did you get this Child Benefit? I thought under Work Permit or even HSMP scheme, Home Office specifically said NO RECOURCE TO PUBLIC FUND.

and also pamaris (who posted about the child benefit) has ILR so she's eligible to access public funds in her own right.

and also pamaris (who posted about the child benefit) has ILR so she's eligible to access public funds in her own right.

I thought even with ILR, there is no access to public funds.

I thought even with ILR, there is no access to public funds.

That would be a bit crule in a social welfare state!

Once you have an ILR, you have resourse to all the standard public funds.  You don't have to become a UK Citizen to avail of them.